Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Vanessa Kroll Bennett is a puberty expert, writer and podcaster who helps adults navigate uncertainty while supporting the kids they love. She writes personal essays for Scary Mommy on the beautiful and hilarious mess of raising tweens and teens.

Vanessa is the co-author of This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained (coming October 2023 from Penguin Random House), co-host of The Puberty Podcast and President of Content at Order of Magnitude, the leading brand dedicated to flipping puberty positive.

The founder of Dynamo Girl, a company designed to build kids' self-esteem through sports classes and puberty education, Vanessa hosts Conversations on Parenting and Beyond at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She writes regularly about parenting tweens and teens in her Uncertain Parenting Newsletter.

Vanessa is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds a Masters in Jewish History. Most importantly, Vanessa thinks tweens and teens are the funniest, smartest people, including her own four children, ages 13 to 20. You can find her on Instagram @vanessakrollbennett and on TikTok @spillingthepubertea!

truth time

The Nitty-Gritty 411 On Balls

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett and Cara Natterson, MD

Are you completely mystified by these hanging appendages? Don’t worry — we got you.

freeeedom

Don’t Let Summer Start Without Having These Convos With Your Kids

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Let’s set everybody up for success here, shall we?

language lessons

You Can Ask Your Grandma Things You'd Never Ask Your Mom

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Grandparents can play a special role in their grandkids’ lives, because they have a freedom that parents don’t.

c'mon guys

Lay Off The Sephora Tweens

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Why is everyone OK being mean to young girls?

Unrestricted Fun

What To Do When Your Kids Want To Hang Out At The House With No Rules

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

After all, we all had friends with this house growing up, and visiting their houses was AWESOME.

enthusiasm

Your Kid Loved Summer Camp. Here's How To Nurture That Feeling All Year Long

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Camp's done, school's up. What you can do as a parent to keep them feeling the spirit.

The 411

How To Prepare Your Kid To Get Their Period At School

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

There’s the what of the period and the how of the period. Here’s how you can talk to your kid ahead of time.

Cringe

I Draw The Line At Butt Cheeks Showing & I’m Not Sorry

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Wow, the shorts on kids these days are short.

What To Do?

Your Kid Wants To Quit An Activity. Do You Let Them?

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

It’s important to respect their autonomy... but those cleats weren’t free, either.

Classics

Olivia The Pig Showed Me How To Raise A Passionate Kid

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Thank you, Ian Falconer, for the road map I so desperately needed.

Sneaky Teens

I Banned My Kid From Snapchat, & Oh Boy The Blowback Was Rough

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Put the f*ing phone down.

Grrrr

I'm Hormonal And Living With Four Very Hormonal Kids — Send Help

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

What happens when we’re all pissy from hormones? Nothing good, that’s what.

tone it down

We Do Our Kids A Disservice Making Them Specialize In Sports Too Soon

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Sports meant so much to me, but they’ve changed completely since I was a kid.

Self-Expression

My Daughter Wanted Her Ears Double Pierced. Why Did I Care So Much?

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

I responded in a classic parental knee-jerk fashion but I realized I was wrong.

Post-Roe America

Talking About Sex With Our Kids In A Post-Roe World

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

What are we supposed to say now?

Stages

I Was A Crappy Parent Of Toddlers

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

Give yourself permission not to love every stage of your kids’ lives.

Rejection

Reminder: Your Kid’s First Dance Isn’t Make-Or-Break, So Relax

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

There is so much more life to be lived.

Big Topics

What I Said When My Kid Asked, ‘Mom, What's the Playboy Mansion?’

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

I never lie to my kid or purposely avoid any question — even the hard ones.

Hormones

When Your Tween Dumps All Their Sh*t On You

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett

It was like a hormonal chain of command where she needed to put it on someone, and I was the lucky recipient.

Puberty

Boys Have Mood Swings, Too

By Vanessa Kroll Bennett and Cara Natterson, MD

The uneven ebb and flow of testosterone might present as physical aggressiveness, anger, or simply utter silence.